Study Says Companies are Sacrificing Mobile Security and Face Greater Mobile Threats

The Verizon Mobile Security Index finds half of respondents sacrificed security to “get the job done”.

Verizon’s second Mobile Security Index finds that more organizations are compromising mobile security in order to “get the job done”, and in turn are facing a greater risk of data loss, downtime and damage to their reputation and customer relationships.

The study shows that despite companies saying they see risks growing, companies’ defenses aren’t keeping up.

Almost half (48%) of respondents said that their organization had sacrificed mobile security in the past year. Up from 32% from last year. What’s more, the index found those that had sacrificed security were nearly twice as likely to suffer a compromise—46% versus 24%. And the majority (62%) of those affected described the event as “major”.

According to the survey;

• Five of six (83%) respondents said that their organizations was at risk of mobile threats. 29% said that it was a significant risk.

• Two thirds (67%) of organizations said they are less confident about the security of their mobile assets than other devices. A fifth (21%) strongly agree with that statement.

• A growing number of organizations continue to put speed and profit ahead of mobile security. Almost half (48%) said they had sacrificed security to “get the job done”. Up from 32% last year.

• Five of six (85%) said organizations need to take mobile security more seriously.

• Nearly half (46%) of those that sacrificed security admitted to suffering a compromise. More than three fifths (62%) of respondents that suffered a compromise described it as “major”.

• 81% admitted using public Wi-Fi, even when many said doing so was prohibited by company policy. This number was consistent (80%) even among those that said they were responsible for securing mobile devices.

• 43% said that remediating the effects of a mobile-related compromise was “difficult and expensive”.